September 9-12, 1981 Theatre Royal Drury Lane, London, ENG
The Secret Policeman's Other Ball Following the success of the 1979 show and the financial benefits accruing to Amnesty from the spin-off movie, TV special and record albums – Cleese, Lewis and Walker planned the next show to be a more spectacular event. Cleese focused on broadening the comedic talent to be presented at the show. In addition to the Amnesty show stalwarts drawn from the Oxbridge/Monty Python/Beyond The Fringe orbit, he invited newcomers such as Rowan Atkinson's colleagues from the BBC TV show Not the Nine O'Clock News including Pamela Stephenson and Griff Rhys Jones; comedian Victoria Wood and regional comic Jasper Carrott. Lewis secured a return appearance by Billy Connolly and a debut appearance by "alternative" comedian Alexei Sayle who Lewis had recently discovered and was managing. Building on the success of Pete Townshend's 1979 appearance Lewis recruited other rock musicians to perform at the 1981 show including Sting, Phil Collins, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Donovan and Bob Geldof. The show was presented at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane on four consecutive nights on 9–12 September 1981. Cleese invited theatre director Ron Eyre to co-direct the show with him. Walker secured funds to have the show filmed (at Lewis’ suggestion) by new wave filmmaker Julien Temple. For the first time an Amnesty show was filmed with a full 35 mm film crew. The resulting film was released in the UK by UIP in March 1982. It became a commercial success on both its theatrical release and its subsequent home video release. Two record albums were also released by Springtime/Island Records. One featured highlights of the comedy material, while the other featured the musical performances. In addition to the movies and albums, Methuen published a large coffee-table book edited by Lewis and Walker, featuring transcripts of the sketches from the show, photographs and some specially written comedic notes by Michael Palin and Terry Jones. The Show Clive Anderson, Rowan Atkinson, Jeff Beck, Alan Bennett, Martin Bergman, John Bird, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Jasper Carrott, Graham Chapman, Eric Clapton, John Cleese, Phil Collins, Billy Connolly, Donovan, John Fortune, Bob Geldof, Barry Humphries, Neil Innes, Chris Langham, Jimmy Mulville, Griff Rhys Jones, Alexei Sayle, Pamela Stephenson, Sting, John Wells and Victoria Wood. Directed by Ronald Eyre (assisted by John Cleese). A Word Of Thanks (Cleese & Company) Beekeeping (Atkinson & Cleese) What’s On In Stoke Newington (Sayle) Denis The Menace (Wells) Song In A French Accent (Innes) Divorce Service (Atkinson/Rhys Jones/Stephenson/Fortune) Reading The Riot Act (Langham) The Royal Australian Prostate Foundation (Humphries) Road Safety (Atkinson) Australian Motor Insurance Claims (Carrott) Card Dance (Cleese, Chapman, Brooke-Taylor) I’ve Had It Up To Here With Men (Wood) Top Of The Form (Cleese/Atkinson/Bird/Brooke-Taylor/Chapman/Fortune/Rhys Jones) Drinking (Connolly) Ronnie Reagan (Wells) Men’s Talk (Bennett & Fortune) Clothes Off (Chapman/Cleese/Stephenson) Overture (Atkinson) plus musical items by Sting, Beck, Clapton, Geldof, Collins and Donovan. The Singing Superstar (Humphries) International Weightlifting (Rhys Jones & Company) How To Get Out Of Your Head (Sayle) What We Find (Wood) A Severe Depression (Langham) President Reagen’s Big One (Wells) Confessions Of A Van Driver (Carrott) Chekhov And The Gorilla (Bird/Fortune/Langham) Apeman (Innes) Everything’s Coming Out Roses (Langham) A Song For Princess Di (Wood) Man In A Glass Box (Sayle) Seance With A Tit (Stephenson) More Drinking (Connolly) Hangman (Carrott) Conductor (Atkinson) Sting - "Roxanne" & "Message in a Bottle" Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton, "Farther Up The Road", "Cause We've Ended as Lovers" & "Crossroads" Phil Collins - "The Roof Is Leaking" & "In The Air Tonight" Donovan - "Sunshine Superman", "The Universal Soldier", "Catch The Wind" & "Colours" Bob Geldof and Johnny Fingers - "I Don't Like Mondays" Tom Robinson - "Glad to Be Gay" Pete Townshend - "Won't Get Fooled Again" & "Drowned" "I Shall Be Released" – The Secret Police